The Lost Purse
-
I would like to share a story that, hopefully, will lighten up whatever may be weighing you down.
I work at a radio station located in a shopping mall. The window I sit by looks out at one of the entrances to the mall.
I get to watch people all day coming to the mall and then leaving with their packages. Many of those people are dropped off and are later picked up by a friend or a family member.
A week ago a gentleman came into the radio station with a woman’s purse which he said he had found on one of benches.
I looked in the purse for identification and found a state issued ID card which are often made available to people with special needs. I also found a cell phone. The phone was basic and, again, was the type the government often issues to special needs people.
I was familiar with the type of ID card and the type of phone because I have a special needs friend I take out for breakfast every Sunday and his ID and phone are identical.
I called the most recently dialed number in the phone’s log and a gentleman answered. The man told me he worked for the group home where the woman lived and that he would be at the mall in one hour to pick her up.
I told him that I would hold onto the purse until he arrived.
While the clock ticked away, and while I was on the air doing a broadcast, I spotted a woman, who appeared to resemble the photo on the ID, walk past the window. The woman looked very distraught.
I told my on-air partner that I thought the woman might be the owner of the purse. It was impossible to get up at that moment because we were in the middle of doing a show.
During a commercial break I called the gentleman from the group home and he told me to hold onto the purse until he got there just in case the woman we spotted was not the correct woman.
That woman must have walked past our window a couple dozen times. She looked so worried. She was a frail and elderly looking woman and it seemed like it was taking forever for her driver to arrive.
The thought occurred to me that I knew her worry was going to have a happy ending. But, of course, she didn’t know that and I had no way to tell her.
Finally I saw a gentleman walking with the woman and holding her hand. He looked in the window and I motioned to let him know it was okay to walk into the studio.
The woman was overjoyed to have her purse back and very excited and talkative about being in a radio station.
The take-away from this story was significant. I wondered if maybe God looks at us sometimes and sees us distraught and worried while knowing that there is a happy ending that we can’t perceive.
I’ve worked in the music business and in radio and those two professions seem to attract a lot of people who put unnecessary stress on themselves by not knowing that their future has many great and wonderful things waiting to be uncovered.
The plight of the illustrator seems very familiar in that regard.
Through SVS, Jake, Will, and Lee, are giving amazing guidance and tips to help illustrators navigate the often confusing roadmap to success. They are like GPS for artists. Road conditions may not always be perfect, there may be unexpected detours along the way, and as drivers we may even decide to take a road less traveled, but it is always persistence that will prove to be the key to arriving at our destinations.
They say success requires one to be in the right place at the right time. Find comfort in knowing you are in the right place.
The message I couldn’t communicate to the woman who lost her purse is the message I have for all of us: Have patience. There is a happy ending and it might be right behind a window waiting for you.
-
@larry-whitler This was a lovely story I really enjoyed reading ,very uplifting.
